“I am on a journey, with my work, my explorations, & a few sad stories. I travel with a suitcase full of blessings. I am on a quest for truth, beauty, and quiet joy. I'm an artist, a writer, an explorer.”

31 days of reflection {day 21} Humility

Humility is one of those things that really makes you think! Its not easy to humble yourself in a life that calls us to struggle.

We try our hardest to be a good person and to make the right decisions, but humility is one of those things you need to work at as a means to see things in a different perspective.

One of my favorite quotes on humility is “Humility isn’t denying your strengths, it’s being honest about your weaknesses”.

It’s so easy to deny something rather than to admit to. When you admit to something you are letting yourself be “seen”, when you are denying something, you are pushing the truth away from you. God wants us to be open about who we really are – to humble ourselves.

“Humility is the wisdom of accepting the truth, that you just might be wrong”

I think humility is the test of life. We are challenged every day to live in humility and to humble ourselves to the things we struggle with. It’s not always easy to think that way, but when we do, it makes us feel like a better person; a person living life in the image of God.

I chose the word humility today for the Tuesday at Ten because Humility and being humble are hard words to write about. It’s something we thrive to be, and yet fall short at times, not on purpose, but by the way life steers our emotions and thoughts at times.

Sometimes we have to stop and think how we can be that better person God calls us to be, and other times it comes from the goodness that we do have inside of us. It takes work, and yet sometimes just being the person you are, brings that out in many ways.

Those who cannot feel the littleness of great things in themselves, are apt to overlook the greatness of the little things on others”

One of the hardest lessons of humility is the actions of wishing good on others who have wronged you, or harmed you. They always say “Love your friends, and hate your enemies”, Humility is about praying and loving those who do you wrong, that is true humility.

We do by wrong to God everyday and yet he still loves us – that is Gods humility onto us.

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less”

I have really struggled hard the past year around something that happened that caused me to go right in the arms of isolation, and I have spent a lot of time angry and resentful.

I am beginning to wonder that maybe the healing is found not in fixing the wrong done to me , but maybe by using humility to pray for this person that they see humility and use it in a way that changes them and their hurtful actions.

Maybe it’s about forgiveness even when we don’t believe the other person deserves the forgiveness, because maybe forgiveness is about ME deserving to change and to use that as a means to move out of this horrible isolation I have been in for over a year now.

“To share your weakness is to make yourself vulnerable; to make yourself vulnerable is to show your strength.”

Humility and practicing it can also come with it’s downward spiral . . . . as C.S Lewis says “once we begin to recognize our humility, we lose it”.

Let it come to you as the great person you can be. Do good things right in the light and image of God, and not just to make ourselves look or feel good .. do it because it is right and just.

15 thoughts on “31 days of reflection {day 21} Humility”

Karen, thanks for sharing from your heart. Yes, humility is such a difficult attribute to nurture in our lives…equally difficult is forgiveness. I too had been wronged unjustly and I reached a point where I just had to forgive (and let it go – cue song), even though I knew that “those that had been in the wrong” would never acknowledge my hurt or seek forgiveness. Otherwise, it just continues to eat you up inside. I will be lifting you up, my friend, that you will continue to grow to be the “glory” for Him that He made you to be. Thanks again.

yes, thanks for reminding me that humility is a moment to realize, “hey, life’s not all about me!” I need to realize that forgiveness and care for self and others are all bound togehter. And also, God loves us! How can we not love in return?

Karen, as I started reading your post, I immediately remembered the quote you shared by CS Lewis & thought I would share it with you :) But you beat me to it. I think humility is such a hard thing for us to wrap our heads around for that very reason – as soon as we think we are so humble, we are prideful. Humility needs to remain a hidden attribute. I am so glad I visited from the 31 Dayers FB site this morning. Great post!

Hi! and thank YOU for stopping by as well! thank you for your supporting comment .. you are right.. as soon as we think we are so humble, we are prideful.. YES so true! thank you for that reminder.. I hope to see you again :)

Beautiful post about a difficult topic, especially in our ‘all about me” and “instant gratification’ world. To love others as we do ourselves and treat others as we would want to be treated is to practice humility, and it takes a strong person to put someone first always. Thanks for making me think.